Manufacture of brick



(No Modell.) Y l J. MILLER.

Manufaotur of Brick. "No, 240,605.Y Patented Aprn^2`6,`1881.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB MILLER, OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA.

MANUFACTURE OF BRICK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 240,605, dated April 26, 1881. Application tiled March 16, 1881. (No models) To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JACOB MILLER, of Allegheny, county of Allegheny, State of Pennsylvania, have invented or discovered a new and useful Improvement in the Manufacture of Bricks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, concise, and exact description thereof, reference being` had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this speciication, in which-like letters indicatiuglike parts- Figure l shows a vertical longitudinal section of my improved brick-mold, taken in the plane of the line m a', Fig. 2. Fig. 2 shows a transverse section in the plane of the line x x', Fig. l, and Fig. 3 is a perspective vievxT ofthe mold and bottom board inverted.

The present invention relates to the molding and pressing of bricks by hand; and it consists of a four-sided molding-box, with a bottom board dished or hollowed out on one side and forming a roundedface on one side of the blank, and a plane-faced top board, such boards being used in the process of molding, as hereinafter described. Y

The usual mode of molding brick by hand has been to place afour-sided box or mold upon a flat surface or bed 5 then ll the mold with clay, packing or knocking the clay into the mold, cutting off the superiiuous clay evenly with the upper edge of the mold, lifting the mold, and leaving the molded brick upon the It has also been customary to press such bricks, When partially dry, to render them more compact and give them better form and finish. The extra handling, labor, time, and machinery required for such subsequent pressing adds very materially to the cost of manufacture; and, owing to the fact that in Workin g up large quantities of stock it is practically impossible to press all the bricks at a uniform degree of dryness,sucl1 pressed bricks vary more or less in thickness When nished, which is an objectionable feature in building.

The purpose of my invention is to produce, by handmolding, bricks of uniform size and thickness, having compactncss, stren gth, regularity, and perfectn ess of finish equal to pressed brick, and at a cost of manufacture little, it' at all, in excess of common hand-made or uupressed brick. This is done as follows:

An ordinary four-sided mold-box, A, is used, having, by preference, sufficient length to be divided transversely into three molds or single boxes, a a a. A bottom board, C, is also provided, of length and Width sufficient to cover one open side of the mold-box A. One face of this board is plain or flat. In the other face are made dish-shaped depressions c o c, corresponding in number to molds a in the box. The length and Width of these depressions c are, by preference, a little less than the corresponding dimensions of the molds a, so that the cross and side walls, et', of the moldbox may set on the fiat rims c and surround or inclose the depressions. In form the ,depressions c slope gradually from .the four boundary-edges toward the center and deepest part, as shown. A flat plain-faced board, B, is also provided, of proper size to cover one open side of the box, and, by preference, both boards, B and C, extend a little Way over the ends of the box, as shown, for convenience in handling. Either or both boards may be stiffened by bolts b, and both the box and its boards may be made of or faced with any desired or suitable material.

Bricks are molded with ,this apparatus as follows: The board C is placed upon a convenient table or moldingbed, with the depressions c upward. The moldbox A is placed upon this board so that the several depressions are inclosedwithin the separate molds a, as above described. Clay is then knocked 7 or packed in these several molds until they are Well filled, and the top is struck off even, in the usual way of doing such Work. In this operation a surplus of clay is packed in each of the depressionsc uniform in amount and disposition, and forming on the facey of the blank arounded elevation, c, greatestin amount in the central part of the face and lessening gradually toward the edges. Reducing this rounded face by forcing the surplus clay into the body of the blank constitutes the next step in the operation. To this end the workman places the board B on the upper surface of the mold, as in Figs. l and 2, and, grasping both the top and bottom boards, B G, clamping the box and its contents between them, he turns the whole bottom side up, resting it Irpon the table or bed, as before. Hethen lifts and turns the board O, as in Fig-3, bringing the iiat face of the board down upon the-rounded eleva- ICO ledges and corners to tions e of the blanks; then again grasping both boards and clamping them against the opposite faces of the box, he raises the Whole and brings it down upon the table or other solid support one or more times with considerable force, and thereby presses` or forces the surplus e into the body of the blank Wit-hin the four sides of the mold-box, so that the board G will rest upon the rim or edges of the box. The effect of thus forcing into the blank a definite quantity of clay disposed over its surface, as described, is to fill -out and compress the blank in all its parts under such conditions as to secure the greatest possible uniformity of product. Since the clay is all Worked with uniform plasticity, the same surplus of clay is pressed into all the blanks; also, rounding up such surplus in the center, in the manner described, prevents it from flying or welting out between the board O and the edges of the mold; also', a more uniform and better filling of the angles and corners is secured than is usually done by bringing a uniform pressure upon the Whole surface of the blank, as in a brick-press, since in my apparatus the greatest pressure comes upon the center of the blank, leaving the clay more free to yield around the fill the same. The degree of pressure brought uponlthe blanks by bringing them down suddenly and With force upon a solid bed is considerable, and sufficient, when the clay is in the plastic condition required for molding, to give the blank as great a degree of compactness and strength as is usually secured by pressing` by machinery. When the blanks are thus pressed the mold is removed in the usual Way, leaving the blanks upon the board B to be carried away for burning or other treatment.

The expense of this process or mode of molding is very little, if any, greater than that of molding common impressed brick, While the product is nearly or quite as good as is secured by pressing.

While I have described a rectangular mold of the ordinary form, yet I do not Wish to limit my invention to this or any particular form, as the various shapes of brick and tile, common and special, may be made in this Way, either from ordinary clay for building purposes, or from more refractory clays, such ,as Jdre-clay, &c., and the operation herein described does not require performed by boys and others whose Wages are much less than is usually paid to persons possessing sufficient skill to run brick-machines successfully.

I claim herein as my inventionl. A brickmold having a box, A, with one or more open-faced mold-cavities, a, therein, in combination with plain-faced board B for covering one open face of the box, and bottom board, G, for covering theoth er face, the latter board having on one side a plain face and on the other side one or more dish-shaped depressions,c, corresponding in number and arrangement with the mold-cavities in the box, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The method herein described of molding and pressing brick by hand, consisting, first, in molding a blank with one rounded face, by means of a dish-shaped depression in the bottom of themold-eavity; second, covering both faces of the blank, while still inclosed in the mold-box, with dat or plain-faced boards 5 and, third, clamping such boards against the faces of the blank and jarring or forcing the surplus clay in the rounded face of the blank intothe a high degree of skill, but can be body of the blank within the side walls of the box, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

J AOOB MILLER.

Witnesses:

C. S. PARKER, R. H. WHITTLESEY. 

